Five Times Satou Threatened Juudai's Life
by Higuchimon
Summary: [one-shot, Satou & Juudai genfic] That time in the jungle wasn't the first time Satou wished to end things. It was just the last.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Five Times Satou Tried To Kill Juudai  
**Main Characters:** Juudai, Satou  
**Word Count:** 3,026  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Summary:** That time in the jungle wasn't the first time Satou tried to kill Juudai. It was just the last.

* * *

Hospitals had the same antiseptic sting to them the world over. Duel Academia's infirmary was no different. Professor Satou Kouji could smell it from down the hallway. His steps did not falter, however. There was an infection in the school that he was determined to get rid of, one that couldn't be cleaned up by ammonia or elbow grease.

Ayukawa-sensei sat before her desk, going over some paperwork, and glanced up toward him as the door hissed open. He nodded his head in her direction. He would have to account for himself being here, but he already had a story prepared. "I simply wish to see if the story is true and that he has returned."

It was true. Satou would not lie to a fellow teacher. This was more of a reconnaissance mission than anything else. He would return that night and finish the job, once the nurse was no longer there.

He stood where he could see the two occupied beds. Yes, Tenjoin Fubuki had returned finally. In the other bed was another form, one that his fingers twitched to dispose of.

Yuuki Juudai. So he had defeated this 'Darkness' and freed Tenjoin from those dark clutches. If he could do it, then it could not have been _that_ difficult.

He took another step, his eyes focused on Juudai's mouth and nose. A spare pillow, lazily tossed onto the chair beside Juudai, the privacy curtain pulled around, and his problems would be out of the way, forever.

Satou reached for the pillow, his earlier plan of simply checking the situation out forgotten. How could he turn down this perfect chance? He picked it up and inched a bit closer still. He couldn't be certain how aware Tenjoin was, but he wanted no witnesses.

He shifted his feet as Juudai's eyes flickered a bit. It was too late. He lifted the pillow, then sat down in the chair and put it in his lap as Ayukawa came around the corner.

"He's still asleep, isn't he?" She murmured, holding a thermometer in one hand. Satou nodded; he'd been _that_ close to putting the annoying lazybones to sleep permanently. But now the chance was gone.

Satou leaned back in the chair, blood still racing through him at a heart-stopping pace. Why? Why had the teacher chosen _that_ moment to come over and interrupt? He kept up an outward mask of pleasantness, as he was so used to doing. Despite the boy not even being there for a full year yet, students and teachers alike adored him. Satou knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Movement from closer to Tenjoin's bed caught his attention and he glanced a bit. Blood drained from his face for a single heartbeat and he looked away again. _Asuka-kun._ His grip tightened on the pillow. _She would have seen me. I can't let that happen._

Asuka-kun would not understand, the poor girl. Like so many others, Juudai's smooth aura had her under his spell. Once he was gone, however, she would see reason again, after she had mourned.

He stood and nodded toward her. The girl paid him no mind, but stared instead down at her brother, holding one of his hands in her own. Satou left the infirmary without another word. There would be no second visit. Asuka-kun wouldn't leave her brother's side for days.

There would be another chance. There would always be another chance.

* * *

"Juudai-kun." Satou smiled as he approached the young star of Osiris Red, a covered plate in one hand. A second chance had indeed arisen, and he would not fail to take advantage of it.

Juudai laughed, his head tilted back, his eyes closed, one hand behind his head. Marufuji Shou giggled a little. "Aniki!"

"Juudai-kun." Satou repeated the name, but Juudai was laughing too hard to notice, until Satou set the plate down in front of him. _Then_ he sat up and looked down at the plate for a moment.

"Whoa! Hey there…" His voice trailed off, not that Satou had expected him to _remember_ one of his teachers' names. Not if he couldn't remember to go to class. "Hey, what is that? It smells good!"

Satou ground his teeth. Yes, of course the boy would ask about the food. What else had he expected? He answered regardless. "In order to recognize all of your hard work with defeating the Seven Stars, I prepared a special mushroom dish for you. Please, enjoy." He pulled the cover off the plate, revealing an array of finely chopped mushrooms. "I had these imported from Scandinavia, just for you."

He wasn't lying in the slightest. Not that he objected. He just wasn't.

Juudai's eyes widened in greed. "Thanks, uh…uh…thanks, sensei!" He flashed a brilliant smile and reached for the plate, only to have it snatched away by Manjoume Jun.

"You weren't the only one who fought the Seven Stars! You should share those with the others who fought! Like Tenjoin-kun and me!" The black-clad teenager declared and, suiting actions to words, reached for one of the mushrooms.

Before he could touch it, however, a small red missile struck him in the chest. "You leave those alone! Those are for aniki!" Shou declared, his fingers closing around the plate. He jerked back, but Manjoume kept hold of it.

"He can have some! He just needs to share!" Manjoume wriggled his fingers in an attempt to get hold of one of the mushrooms, but with Shou clinging the way he was, that was all but impossible.

Satou took a step closer and drew in breath to say something. Precisely what he would have said, he never knew, since at that moment, Shou stomped on Manjoume's foot. Manjoume spun around and shouted an obscenity that earned him an afternoon detention, but worse than that, the plate of mushrooms went flying.

"Sensei!" Juudai stared as the mushrooms splattered against Satou's jacket. "I think we can still eat them." He stared as they splatted one by one on the floor. "They're still good!"

Satou closed his eyes for a moment to breathe. "No. No, I'm afraid these mushrooms aren't edible anymore." He picked them up and carried them away, ignoring Juudai's protests. He had spent a good deal of money to get those mushrooms, and all for nothing. Would that boy's damnable luck _never_ run out?

He would have to dispose of these properly, and leave not a trace behind. If anyone knew that he had attempted to give Juudai toxic mushrooms, then it would be _his_ end at Duel Academia. That was unthinkable.

_He still has two years left here,_ Satou reminded himself. Next year, there would be no Seven Stars to distract Juudai from his studies. He would have to study, or fail.

Satou hoped that he would fail.

* * *

Failed. Juudai had _failed_. Satou's heart sang at the very thought. He hadn't _seen_ the duel against Edo Phoenix in person, but he hadn't needed to. He'd caught wind of it through the school grapevine (also known as Tenjoin Fubuki) and watched it on his PDA from the comfort of his own quarters.

No matter how much Edo had enjoyed defeating Juudai, it couldn't compare to what _Satou_ felt now. Delight danced through him and he played and replayed the recording of the duel, savoring the moment when Edo's Destiny Hero Dread Guy swatted Juudai's Thunder Giant, and Juudai himself, like the bugs that they were.

_Idiot. This is what happens when you win and have nothing but **fun** on your mind. You have no idea of what it means to really be a duelist._ Satou watched Juudai himself now. The Osiris Red student was on one of the cliffs, staring out at the ocean. His eyes were distant and unfocused, and Satou thought he could see tears in them.

There would be no need for tears soon. Satou smiled a slow smile. It would be quick and painless. The boy would likely enough never even notice what had happened. Any screams would be lost in the booming of the surf and the crying of seagulls that filled the air.

One push and everything would be over. Satou inched forward, wanting to savor the moment. He couldn't linger for too long. There was always the chance that one of the boy's foolish friends would come in search of him, and then, as had happened before, his chance would slip through his fingers.

Not this time.

He stood up and took a single step. One more would bring him out of the concealing trees and into full view.

**No.** The word was a faint whisper in his mind, and he froze, then pulled back into the concealing embrace of the vegetation. Comforting warmth enveloped him as he touched his deck holder, and he watched to see what was going on.

"Juudai!" A brash voice cracked through the air, and Satou saw Manjoume Jun as he stalked his way up the cliff. "So this is where you've been hiding!"

Satou ground his teeth. Yet another chance to get rid of the infection had been interrupted, and by Manjoume Jun of all people! Why did _he_ care about Juudai? The rivalry between the two of them wasn't quite legendary, but everyone knew of it. But there he was, talking, arguing, attempting to get Juudai to come join the others, to duel against him.

The teacher didn't wait to see if Juudai listened or not. He slid out through the same way he'd entered. He expended a great deal of effort to make certain that no one heard him leave. Even being a teacher wouldn't be a proper excuse for lurking near these cliffs.

For what felt to be the millionth time he made his way back to his quarters. Once comfortably ensconced there, he pulled out his PDA and began to play the duel once again, tracing it in all of its glory.

If he could not finish Juudai himself, then he could at least watch as someone else crushed the insignificant little worm. Edo had done him a greater favor than the young professional would ever know.

Perhaps in some small way, it even made up for his own failure against Edo's guardian.

But only if Juudai never rose again from this defeat.

* * *

Satou knew that he could do it. He could kill Yuuki Juudai, remove the filthy lazy infection from the sacred halls of Duel Academia, and get the attention of his students back finally. He had tried, more than once, and had failed, through no fault of his own. _Something_ always turned up to derail his plan.

Not this time. This time would be different. He had planned this just a little more carefully than before. It had taken effort to steal just the right card, not to mention to set up everything else. The effort was well worth the results.

Now he stood on the beach with what small portion of the school didn't belong to that wretched Society of Light (even _they_ couldn't come to class!), and watched as Juudai went on a rescue mission.

"I don't see how anyone could've stolen his Hane Kuriboh," One student whispered to another in Satou's earshot. "Or why they'd do something like this."

"You've got me." The other student shrugged; neither of them paid any attention to their teacher as he stood only a few feet away. "Think he can do it?"

"If anyone can, Juudai-kun can!" The first declared. Satou kept silent, but inwardly, he snorted. No one was going to be able to do this, not without being a fish.

Nearly a hundred yards from the shore there floated a buoy. Strapped onto that buoy was Hane Kuriboh's card. The only way available to get to it was a boat, which Satou had made certain not only leaked, but had a minimum of gas in the tank.

_He'll drown before he can get back to shore with it._ It wasn't a certainty, but Satou was still confident with the plan. As far as he knew, Juudai couldn't swim. That made everything so much better.

"What's going on?" Another voice cried out, this one from someone that Satou recognized: Marufuji Shou. "Aniki! You're sinking!"

"Aniki!" Satou knew this one as well, and his lip curled at the sound of Tyranno Kenzan. The brightest of the Ra students of his year, and he abandoned his proper dorm to stay with Juudai. Juudai, Juudai, it was _always_ Juudai, and Satou couldn't wait to finish him.

He turned his gaze to where Juudai was visible making his way out of the boat. _I didn't think it would sink that fast._ Ah, well. No one was perfect. Juudai splashed his way toward the buoy and scrabbled at the straps that held the card there.

_Almost. Almost._ He could see Juudai's strength failing. Juudai tried harder to get the tape off, but there was too much of it. There was no way he could get it all off in time. Soon. _Now_!

"Hold on, aniki!" Satou's eyes widened as Kenzan swam out to Juudai, his huge muscles pulling him through the water with grace and ease. "I'm coming!"

He reached Juudai's side quicker than Satou would have ever said he could, just as Juudai broke the last piece of tape holding his precious card to the buoy. Kenzan looped one arm around Juudai. "Come on, let's go!"

Satou ground his teeth as the two of them swam back, noting with little care that Juudai, even tired, swam well. _It would have worked, if it hadn't been for that boy._

Time slipped through his fingers. The school year would be over in another few months, and then it would be Juudai's last year. Something would have to break then, and Satou knew it wouldn't be him. Juudai would learn to see the trash.

Or else.

* * *

Satou tilted the blade of his knife, admiring the way the light gleamed from it. There was no one else up here to see. They were all getting ready for the transfer students from the four branch schools to arrive. This made it the perfect time.

A few feet away, Juudai slept peacefully, wrapped in dreams. Satou imagined what those probably were. _Food. Dueling for fun._ Whenever thoughts like that passed through his mind, Satou wanted to hurt something. No. He wanted to hurt Juudai. _He_ had never dueled for fun. How dare Juudai even _think_ that duels were fun? How _could_ he think that?

_Twice now he's saved the school, if not the world. And he still believes that duels are just for **fun**! That it's only a **game** and a way to make friends._ What he wouldn't give for Juudai to realize the truth of being a duelist.

Unfortunately, there was no more chance of that. Juudai had used up all of his chances. Satou admired the knife once again. He had bought it over the summer, and kept it sharp and ready for use. Now was the time.

Juudai soaked up the sun in his sleep, as unaware of Satou's approach as he was always unaware of his presence. The tall teacher took each step with silence and care. Even with everyone else in the school busy, there was always the chance that the boy would wake up before the fatal strike fell.

His shadow fell over Juudai. At last, this long nightmare would end, and a new day with new students who _cared_ would arise. Satou raised his arm.

**Back.** As had happened once before, that voice slid through his mind. He knew it well and returned to the shadows, just as Juudai sat up, panting.

"Hane Kuriboh?" Juudai looked at a place that held only empty air to Satou. Only a few people could see Duel Spirits. Even fewer people could see _every_ Duel Spirit. Of course, Juudai was one of those extremely rare ones. Satou hated him even more for that alone. Such a wonderful gift, wasted on a brat.

He fingered the blade and wondered if he would be able to put it between Juudai's shoulder blades from where he stood. As quick and painless as a thrust through the heart, though it would also be somewhat riskier. If he missed, then Juudai would realize that someone wanted to kill him.

_Perhaps that would make him take things more seriously?_ No, probably not. Juudai was oblivious to the point of being an imbecile. He wouldn't realize that Satou wanted to kill him, or _why_ he wanted that, if Satou explained it with charts, graphs, and photographic evidence.

Once again, he eyed Juudai's unprotected back, and moved the knife around until he held the blade between his fingers. He would take the chance of missing him.

_Damn it!_ In the few seconds of thought he had taken, someone else had joined Juudai on the roof. Satou frowned, then his eyes widened. _Johan Andersen?_ The legendary Gem Beast duelist was one of the exchange students? It did make sense, as he was one of the finest duelists in the world. But what was he doing _there_, on the roof, talking to Juudai?

Satou's eyes narrowed at their clasped hands. How could someone like Johan enjoy the touch of someone like _Juudai_? Would this be someone else who so easily fell under Juudai's spell of laziness?

He didn't want to see this anymore. He left, almost absently slamming the knife into the sheath he carried underneath his jacket. _I'll do it. Somehow, this year, I am going to kill Yuuki Juudai. I don't know how or when, but one of us is going to die._

Satou's anger consumed him to the point that he didn't notice a burly man coming toward him, until he bumped into the stranger. He mumbled an unfelt apology and continued toward his room. The ceremony could go on without him. He would plead a headache if Samejima asked why he wasn't there.

He didn't see the stranger watching him. Nor did he see the smile.

But he kept the vow he had made to himself in that moment.

And Yuuki Juudai saw the trash at last.

**The End**

**Note:** The mushrooms that Satou attempts to feed Juudai in the second part were Gyromitra esculenta, which are potentially fatal if eaten raw.


End file.
